Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Contrary to popular myth, the men who signed the Declaration of Independence
were not great Americans. Instead, they were great Englishmen. In fact, they
were as much English citizens as Americans today are American citizens. It’s
easy to forget that the revolutionaries in 1776 were people who took up arms
against their own government.

So how is it that these men are considered patriots? Well, the truth is that
their government didn’t consider them patriots at all. Their government
considered them to be bad guys — traitors, all of whom deserved to be hanged for
treason.

Most of us consider the signers of the Declaration of Independence to be
patriots because of their courage in taking a stand against the wrongdoing and
tyranny of their own government, even risking their lives in the process.

Yet not even the patriotism and courage of these English citizens constitutes
the foremost significance of the Fourth of July, any more than the military
victory over their government’s forces at Yorktown does.Read more